Chapter 31

Ha Yu-ju.

Screams, struggling, pain, bleeding, tears, fingernails.

Kwak Jae-gyeom.

Agitation, first aid, excitement, irritation, desperation, bulging veins.

Cha Si-eon.

Radio, voice, coldness, urging, command, situation over.

Seo Do-un.

An editor of some gravedigger, meeting death once again.

---

Ha Yu-ju’s sobbing subsided.

It seemed the medicine had finally taken effect.

I thought about wiping the dried blood from Ha Yu-ju’s face, then stopped.

It was better to conserve water right now.

The back of my hand stung.

When I looked to see what it was, it was full of crescent-shaped wounds.

They were nail marks Ha Yu-ju had dug in while thrashing in pain.

Unable to show that it hurt, I covered the back of my hand with my sleeve.

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had suffered more than me, was sitting a little distance away.

Perhaps exhausted, he had his back against the wall and his head lowered.

It was not even that bright, yet the blood stuck messily in Kwak Jae-gyeom’s hair was far too visible.

It was a small mercy that the clothes we wore were black.

“Are you okay?”

When I approached and asked, Kwak Jae-gyeom lifted his head.

Then, as if my concern instead made him uncomfortable, he smiled.

“Of course I’m okay. I was prepared too. But Ha Yu-ju isn’t even part of a combat group. The Fabrication Team really only gets basic training, and not all Field Division is the same kind of Field Division, but, ah, seriously…….”

Kwak Jae-gyeom tried to act fine, then lowered his head again.

Then he roughly messed up his own hair.

Kwak Jae-gyeom’s forearm, raised above his head, was a mess of bite marks.

They were marks from when Ha Yu-ju panicked and bit him because Kwak Jae-gyeom had tied her arm tightly to stop the bleeding.

The traces of pooled blood and bruising were awful.

But his inside seemed to be in worse shape than the outside.

If he had been dragged here alone with me, he probably would have cackled calmly.

He would have reported excitedly to Cha Si-eon that he had accomplished the possession mission.

If his own hand had been blown off, he might even have bluffed and told them to buy him a robot arm.

But right now, Kwak Jae-gyeom had none of that composure.

Feeling stifled myself, I swallowed a sigh.

The place we were in was a narrow corridor curved like the inside of a snail shell.

There were fluorescent lights on the ceiling, but they were not on.

Still, there was dim light leaking in from outside, so we could see inside.

Aside from that, there were no features to speak of, so I could not even guess where this was.

After glancing around for a moment, I spoke into the smartwatch.

“Team Leader Cha Si-eon, where are we?”

-I will explain the space after Ha Yu-ju stabilizes.

So he had been waiting. That was why there had been no explanation.

Just as I nodded.

“I’m fine now.”

Ha Yu-ju said in a voice like a thread.

Startled, I turned toward Ha Yu-ju, and Kwak Jae-gyeom also raised his head.

Ha Yu-ju, who had been lying on Kwak Jae-gyeom’s outerwear, was forcing herself upright.

-Ha Yu-ju, have you calmed down?

“Yes, I’ve calmed down.”

Was that really true?

Ha Yu-ju had only barely stopped sobbing. She was still crying.

-First, I will convey the situation. Your severed hand is being transported to the Medical Center. The loss rate of the silicone bracelet severed with it has been identified as 0.5mm or less. If your wrist area is in the same condition, they say most of the nerves can be reconnected.

“What about contamination?”

-Contamination level will be measured as soon as it arrives at the Medical Center. Depending on the results, whether reattachment surgery can be performed will also be decided.

If it was contaminated, they might not be able to attach it?

I quietly observed Ha Yu-ju’s complexion.

But Ha Yu-ju was unexpectedly calm.

No, she was breathing shallowly and trying to stay calm.

-Jae-gyeom.

“Yes, Team Leader.”

-Get Ha Yu-ju out first, then return with Seo Do-un. The golden time for Ha Yu-ju, as judged by the medical team, is 2 hours.

“Is the rescue team deploying?”

-Whether to deploy the rescue team will be discussed again after Ha Yu-ju escapes.

“Why? No, more importantly, where are we?”

There was an urgent patient, yet he was postponing the deployment of the rescue team.

At that hard-to-accept judgment, Kwak Jae-gyeom asked question after question.

-The place where you are now is 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」.

But Cha Si-eon’s answer was enough to stop us from speaking.

A heavy silence flowed.

As if possessed, I stood up and headed toward the direction where the light was leaking in.

After climbing a few steps, an open outdoor space spread out before me.

A pitch-black sky with neither moon nor stars.

Beneath it, huge lighting towers shone.

A green soccer field monopolizing that intense light.

And the dead wandering across it.

Dozens, no. Hundreds of corpses were walking.

Even soaked in blood, even with their bodies torn away.

Without question, it was the most horrific sight of my life.

---

Survival Rules for Missing Persons within 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」

You are currently in the 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」, managed by the Government of the Republic of Korea.

This is a dangerous situation in which you may lose your life, so please familiarize yourself with the Survival Rules below and evacuate swiftly.

Survival Rules for Missing Persons within 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」

■ Common Precautions

One. Do not forget that you are human.

Only humans can leave this place.

Two. Comply with the social norms of the Republic of Korea.

Criminal acts are not permitted even within Special Management Zones (hereafter, Special Zones).

However, the minimum killing necessary for your own survival is exceptionally permitted.

All other criminal acts, as well as proxy killing for the purpose of rescuing lives other than your own, are strictly prohibited.

Violation may result in punishment under the Special Zone Special Act.

■ Escape Directives for the 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」

The 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」 is a sports complex-shaped Special Zone characterized by dead humans attacking living humans.

The escape routes identified so far are as follows. Please refer to the contents below and return alive safely.

-The following-

Route A. Escape through Cleaning the Field

Route B. Escape through the 「White Shadow with a Hole in Its Chest」

Route C. Escape through the 「Referee Who Weighs」

Route D. Patriotic Martyrdom

---

Let’s set aside that damn “Patriotic Martyrdom” for now.

There were 3 escape methods from the 「Sports Complex Where Corpses Run」.

“Ha Yu-ju was injured while performing official duties. Can’t we count her as a person of national merit for that?”

Kwak Jae-gyeom made a forced argument that had no chance.

-No.

Of course, it did not work.

---

Route B. Escape through the 「White Shadow with a Hole in Its Chest」

This escape method is available only to people who meet the conditions below.

1. A person of national merit or their direct child

2. A person who has carried out regular donations or volunteer work for 3 years or more

3. A person who has received commendation through substantial social contribution

4. Any other person recognized as exemplary due to devotion to the nation, social contribution, the practice of sharing, and so on

A person who meets the above conditions may ask the 「White Shadow with a Hole in Its Chest」 for help.

If you do not meet the conditions, please select a different route.

---

Route B was like an escape route as a reward for patriots.

Unfortunately, none of us applied.

I should have lived a little more kindly.

“Cleaning the field would take too long, right?”

This time, I muttered something obvious.

-Cleaning the field is not possible under current conditions. Even if the conditions are met, it will take more than 3 days to clean all 147 「Running Corpses」 currently wandering the field.

Right. I knew it would not work.

---

Route A. Escape through Cleaning the Field

This method can be attempted when there are 5 or fewer survivors inside the Special Zone and 100 or more 「Running Corpses」 on the field.

Become a cleaner, subdue all 「Running Corpses」, place them in bags provided in the cleaning supply storage room, and transport them to the disposal site.

Once cleaning the field is complete, the cleaner may leave work.

---

Route A was effectively impossible too.

Now the only thing left was “Route C. Escape through the 「Referee Who Weighs」.”

But we did not mention it carelessly.

No, we were forcibly looking away from it.

---

Route C. Escape through the 「Referee Who Weighs」

Determine victory or defeat through a duel, trade, wager, lottery, etc. with another person inside the Special Zone, and secure the loser’s corpse in an amount equal to your body weight.

The referee will judge your victory not by quantity, but by weight.

Once you have secured the corpse, run from the center of the field toward a soccer goal. Either goal is acceptable.

At this time, the 「Running Corpses」 wandering the field will target you or the corpse you have secured.

If you overcome the obstruction and reach the goal, the 「Referee Who Weighs」 will send you outside.

Precautions

1. The bodies of 「Running Corpses」 cannot be recycled as the loser’s corpse.

2. If you leave the field while moving toward the goal, you must return to the center of the field and start again from the beginning.

3. Maintain the weight of the corpse until you arrive at the goal. If the corpse’s weight at the time of arrival at the goal falls short of your body weight, you cannot receive a victory judgment.

---

In a word, it was soccer played with corpses.

On top of that, it had the truly clichéd and unpleasant setup of “if you want to live, kill.”

So I did not particularly want to mention it, but Kwak Jae-gyeom deliberately opened his mouth.

“Hyung, how much do you weigh?”

“About 60.”

“I’m 73kg. Even the two of us together don’t add up to 140kg.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom let out a long sigh.

Then he placed a hand on Ha Yu-ju’s shoulder with a solemn face.

“As expected, you have to sacrifice yourself. Ha-ma, you’re over 1 ton.”

“I’m already low on blood, so don’t raise my blood pressure…….”

Ha Yu-ju retorted with her face pale.

A joke in this situation.

I wanted to laugh at the spirit of those two, but it did not work very well.

That was not just a joke, but an effort to hide pain.

So the most I could manage was a bitter smile.

The one fortunate thing was that there was no possibility of us fighting among ourselves like starving demons.

I was Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s pick.

Jae-gyeom was a firearm holder.

Yu-ju was the lightest among us.

In order, we were a person who must not be killed, a person who could not be killed, and a person who would not help even if killed.

Besides, Cha Si-eon was watching in real time from outside.

So there was no need for us to participate in that vicious game…….

Then how exactly do we get Ha Yu-ju out?

I could not see a way at all.

On top of that, Cha Si-eon was strangely quiet.

At the mart, it felt like he had not even given me room to breathe, so why?

-Stop chatting and focus. First, Mr. Seo Do-un, put on your mask.

Cha Si-eon suddenly gave an instruction.

-Mr. Seo Do-un will sit and stand by at the location where Ha Yu-ju was lying. Jae-gyeom and Yu-ju will move to the room on the left. Jae-gyeom, stand by behind the door.

The explanation was nowhere near enough, but we scattered as instructed.

However, the corridor was so narrow that it was practically right next to us.

Had about 3 minutes passed like that?

CLANG— CLANK—!

Some kind of can flew in from the end of the corridor.

It rolled close to me, and the moment it stopped, it belched out smoke.

“Urgh……!”

-Do not move.

When I flinched, Cha Si-eon warned me in a low voice.

Was this why he had told me to wear a mask?

The mask provided by the Bureau was a special mask with an external filter.

Even so, a harsh smell stabbed my nose.

It seemed they had put something strange into a can and lit it on fire.

Without knowing what was going on, I endured the biting smoke.

The crude tear-gas canister soon went out weakly, and the corridor filled with hazy smoke.

Step—

Footsteps rang out in the silence.

Step— step—

Just as the footsteps drew closer to me.

-Jae-gyeom, fire 10m down the corridor, 15 degrees left.

Cha Si-eon gave the order without obstruction, and Kwak Jae-gyeom followed without hesitation.

PAPAPAK—!

At the gunshots that burst right beside me, my eyes widened.

I held my breath, not knowing what was happening.

THUD—

At the far end of the corridor, something fell.

It was a sound that could only make one certain of death.